Reporting live from Waterworks Park in Des Moines, where Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann will link up with the Tea Party Express bus tour this evening.

30 minutes out from the event’s start, things are pretty quiet. A line of cars is queued up along a road deep inside the park, a handful of tents hawking pro-conservative and/or anti-President Obama merchandise are set up along the perimeter of a wide field and a couple moving trucks are rolling in yet more displays. Strong America Now, the government reform group that has been almost ubiquitous at Iowa political events in recent months, has a table set up as well.

But attendees are just beginning to trickle in, and there’s no sign of the bus or candidate at the center of this event.

Many of those who are here seem to be firmly in the Bachmann camp, with t-shirts and bumper stickers broadcasting their allegiance to the Minnesota congresswoman.

For updates as the event goes on, check back on Caucus Insider and follow @jasonnoble1 and @jenniferjjacobs on Twitter.